I knew that I wanted to attend Smith ever since middle school. Perhaps it was because my initial inquiry was answered with a handtyped letter. Or maybe because Smith offered a major in biochemistry at a time when many large universities didn’t. But I think the main reason was because Smith graduates have contributed disproportionately to improving the world.

As a future scientist, I believed in the importance of being grounded in the humanities. This would be my last chance to study them in an excellent academic setting—and I was not disappointed. My first-year world history discussion group was led by President Thomas Mendenhall himself. My thesis research supervisor, Kenneth Hellman, always provided pertinent and gentle guidance. Mrs. Shaw, our housemother in Franklin King, was the epitome of the prim and proper New England dame; she served tea every Saturday and smoked a cigar with us after our senior final exams.

As a National Merit and dean’s list scholar, I cherished the opportunity to get a Smith education, which would have been impossible without financial aid. My parents were not wealthy by any means. I remember overhearing them discussing where they would get the money to buy food. (They borrowed from my allowance savings.) I’m proud to be in the ranks of Smith alums. The college made a tremendous difference in my life, just as its graduates have made a difference in the world. 

I became a department chair at a Fortune 50 company and at a first-tier university, undoubtedly because of the breadth and depth of my Smith education. Neither of my parents were university graduates, and I’ll be forever grateful for my opportunity to study at Smith.